Indian firms shift supply chains towards resilience

Indian organisations are shifting their supply chain strategies from cost efficiency toward integration and resilience, according to IDC research sponsored by Blue Yonder.

The findings suggest priorities are changing as businesses respond to higher transport costs, supplier pressures and infrastructure bottlenecks. Many organisations in India still favour lean operating models that can leave supply chains exposed to disruption, but the balance is beginning to shift.

Nearly half of respondents in India, 47 per cent, said they are prioritising better integration between systems and partners to improve agility. Another 38 per cent said they are adopting more flexible transport and multimodal logistics strategies to make operations more responsive.

The report places India within a broader shift across Asia-Pacific, where supply chain operators are moving beyond visibility tools and seeking ways to coordinate decisions across multiple systems and external partners. The change reflects frustration with the limits of simply tracking goods and events without being able to respond quickly when problems emerge.

Cost pressure remains a central issue. In India, 41 per cent of organisations are dealing with rising transportation costs, while 38 per cent reported increasing supplier costs. Another 30 per cent identified delivery delays and port congestion as key challenges.

From visibility

Stephanie Krishnan, associate vice president at IDC Asia/Pacific and author of the study, said the region's supply chains have reached a point where monitoring alone is no longer enough.

"Supply chains across Asia-Pacific have largely solved the visibility problem, but many organisations still struggle to translate that visibility into action," Krishnan said.

"The competitive advantage now lies in orchestrating decisions across multiple partners and systems in real time."

That distinction between seeing and acting runs through the research. The next phase of supply chain transformation will depend on whether companies can link data, partners and execution systems in ways that let them adjust operations quickly when disruption hits.

Artificial intelligence is emerging as part of that effort. Across Asia-Pacific, 32 per cent of supply chain leaders said AI and machine learning are the most critical gap they need to address to improve resilience.

The report also points to growing interest in agentic AI, described as systems that can coordinate decisions and trigger actions across supply chain networks. Its importance in supply chain operations is expected to rise by nearly 60 per cent across Asia-Pacific over the next three years.

Operational backbone

For businesses in India, the challenge is not only adopting new tools but also connecting fragmented operations. Integration across internal systems, suppliers and logistics partners has become more pressing as disruptions expose weak links in procurement, transportation and fulfilment.

Blue Yonder said companies need more than visibility to cope with volatile conditions. Antonio Boccalandro, Asia-Pacific president at Blue Yonder, said the shift reflects the need for faster responses across supply networks.

"To truly evolve, especially in turbulent times such as we are currently experiencing, organisations need to find ways to become more agile and resilient. As such, supply chains are entering a new phase where visibility alone is no longer enough. Organisations need the ability to translate insights into coordinated action across suppliers, logistics partners and internal operations. Platforms that combine AI, real-time data and multi-enterprise collaboration are becoming essential to help businesses respond faster to disruption while unlocking new opportunities for growth," Boccalandro said.

The research concludes that organisations will need a unified operational backbone tying together data, partner networks and execution systems. In practice, that means building supply chains that can respond to shocks with coordinated decisions rather than relying on separate teams and disconnected software.

Krishnan said that shift will determine which organisations are best able to manage volatility across supplier and logistics networks.

"Modern supply chains must evolve from monitoring events to orchestrating responses. The organisations that succeed will be those that can translate insights into coordinated action across their entire supply ecosystem," she said.